2071 - Mutan-Bestien gegen Roboter

If it weren't for Ib Melchior, Irwin Allen would never have made Lost in Space or The Time Tunnel. Yet Allen had connections so Ib mostly shut up. This, one of my three favorite time travel movies from the 60s (then others being the incomparable The Time Machine & Beyond the Time Barrier) is so well done it transcends it's low budget. Every penny is on screen. A group of scientists opens a portal into the future - a horrible one - and must find a way home.

The reason a film such as this (low budget '50s or '60s sci-fi) is on many viewers favorites lists is not necessarily fond childhood memories or nostalgia - it's because it's well made. Of course, they had very little money for props and such, but the story is more inventive than 95% of the stuff that's released now or has been since the nineties; no, make that the eighties. Yes, I'm one of those guys who saw it 30 years ago as a kid on TV during a Saturday matinée slot or something; but I've seen it again within a couple of years ago and it's still quite entertaining. Here, the writers proposed a question, a 'what if?' question about time travel. What if certain people, a small group of scientists, accidentally invented a time travel device? What if they used it? (Again, accidentally). What if the device short-circuited too early? What if this, what if that - and so on, with inventive answers provided to each question. If you've never seen this picture, you're in for a treat - you'll be wondering what's the next answer every 5 to 10 minutes. This is a quality sorely lacking in most films today. Maybe all the good ideas have been used. The same concept was utilized a couple of years later in the short-lived "Time Tunnel" TV series, but that show lacked the wild turns of this sci-fi set up. Some of the further situations in this story of the future are a bit goofy, but I believe it's intentional. The ending, which I won't give away here, actually puts some pressure on the viewers to wrap their minds around. Watch for famous sci-fi fan & publisher Forrest J.Ackerman in a cameo. Whatta trip!

The one thing that struck me right away was the static camera shots. Usually just one master shot and one other angle. I thought it might be the fault of the cinematographer, but when I looked it up I found that Vilmos Zsigmond was the cinematographer on Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Witches of Eastwich which are 2 of my favorite films with stunning cinematography. Of course, made for the big screen it wouldn't be as bad as watching it on a small TV. Actually this kind of cinematography is preferable to a lot of today's films that are shot like a music video. I am sure that having a low budget is constraining to the cinematographer's creative endeavors.

Three scientists and the inevitable everyday Joe are catapulted over a hundred years into the future by a lab accident, into a post-apocalyptic nightmare in which atomic war has devastated the planet. Pursued by a band of savage mutants, they're rescued by the last few humans, a small group of scientists and technicians engaged in a race against time to construct a starship and get away before the more numerous mutants can break through their defenses.

None of these elements is particularly new to the genre, but writer/director Ib Melchior manages to combine them into a fairly entertaining and occasionally original piece of "upper low-budget" sf cinema. This isn't to say that the pace doesn't occasionally lag a bit toward the middle, with some sequences feeling like they were inserted just to pad out the running time. (Like a totally unnecessary scene devoted to what's supposed to be a demonstration of their futuristic "matter transmitter", which is clearly just a stage magician's prop.)

Mostly, though, there's scarcely a moment wasted in exposition or character development, as the story barrels along to its truly unique conclusion.

Set design, miniatures, costuming and makeup -- particularly the androids -- are surprisingly good, for its budget. The optical effects are sparse but imaginative. Though it's early in his distinguished career, having Vilmos Zsigmond behind the camera also contributes considerably to making this a much more polished and expensive-looking production than you'd normally expect to see from American International.

The first time I saw this movie was on a weekend afternoon on one of the UHF stations out of Sacramento. I only saw the first five minutes or so. Up to the part where the characters actually take their first steps forward, and then the family had to go somewhere.

Throughout the years I'd catch the same beginning time and again, but was always drawn away from it.

Well, I finally saw it all last year, and where it wasn't sterling scifi fare, it was decent for a 1960s reminisce-blast from scifi film making of days of yore. Finally being able to see this full film in its entirety put a smile on my face. The same kind of feeling I got when I saw other films that I had often heard about, but had never fully seen, just bits and pieces here and there on broadcast TV back in the 70s and 80s.

But, to the movie; it's standard science fiction time travel stuff. Throw in a few mutants, some robots, and you got yourself a movie. There's a romantic subplot of sorts, some rocket ships, a fight for survival, a battle of good and evil, all the things that make great science fiction great. Only this film isn't exactly the greatest thing ever, it's just decent enough to be watchable.

Lots of basic shots, mostly standard master shots and two shots to push the narrative forward. There are no or few dramatic closeups, no rapid machinegun editing, and a score that's your standard "danger of the unknown" music so prominent of scifi of the 50s and 60s.

It's the kind of movie that someone thought would be a good thing for people to see, and that scifi aficionados like myself thought would be worth seeing once or twice. And the film delivers on that account.

I'm so glad I finally saw it after decades of just catching snippits of it. I'm not sure I'll buy the DVD or bluray to add to my collection, but I'm glad it's out there for all to see.

If you're a scifi fan, then maybe give this film a chance on the player of your choice. Enjoy.